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Supplemental Item: 4.7 CouNCIL AGENDA: 11/29/2011 SUPPLEMENTAL ITEM: 4.7 CITY OF ~ SAN JOSE Memorandum CAPITAL OF SILICON VALLEY TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND FROM: Joseph Horwedel COUNCIL SUBJECT: SEE BELOW DATE: November 21,2011 Approved ! Date COUNCIL DISTRICT: 5 SNI AREA: ¯ Mayfair SUPPLEMENTAL SUBJECT: HLll-199, HISTORIC LANDMARK NOMINATION (HL) FOR 2020 E. SAN ANTONIO STREET, MCDONNELL HALL REASON FOR SUPPLEMENTAL This supplement transmits additional documentation supporting the proposed City Landmark Designation of McDonnell Hall in recognition of its historic significance in the life and work of C4sar Chfivez: County of Santa Clara Parks and Recreation Department Report (November 2011) entitled, "Conclusions on the Historical Significance of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church and McDonnell Hall" Letters of support for federal recognition from La Raza Roundtable, Dolores Huerta Foundation, Chavez Family Vision, and President of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. /s/ JOSEPH HORWEDEL, DIRECTOR Planning, Building and Code Enforcement For questions, please contact Laurel Prevetti at 408/535-7901. ’ Attachments Conclusions on the Historical Significance of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church and McDonnell Hall County of Santa Clara Parks and Recreation Department November 2011 I. Introduction The County of Santa Clara Parks and Recreation Department (County Parks Department) was tasked with researching the historic significance of two proposed buildings (Our Lady of Guadalupe Church and McDonnell Hall) located at 2020 East San Antonio Street in the City of San José. This location was the site where Cesar Chavez led the farm worker movement in Santa Clara County. There are two structures on the site: McDonnell Hall, brought to the site in the 1950s to serve as the Our Lady of Guadalupe Church and named after the founding priest and Cesar Chavez mentor, Father Donald McDonnell; and the structure that was eventually constructed in 1967 to serve as the new church, now known as Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. The following summarizes the County Parks Department’s review of the historic significance of McDonnell Hall, which is the structure associated with Cesar Chavez’ seminal period when he lived in the City of San José. The National Park Service (NPS) is evaluating McDonnell Hall as part of its Cesar Chavez Special Resource Study. The NPS study includes McDonnell Hall (the former Our Lady of Guadalupe Church) in the list of 11 potentially nationally significant sites known for their association with Cesar Chavez and the farm labor movement. In this on-going study, NPS has indicated further research is needed to assess these 11 sites in the context of the National Historic Landmark criteria. II. Background The NPS is evaluating alternatives for designating sites significant to Cesar Chavez and the farm labor movement in the western United States as part of the national park system, and also to determine eligibility for listing on the National Register of Historic Places or as a National Historic Landmark. An analysis of these alternatives is detailed in Attachment 1. The five alternatives identified in the NPS study include the following: Alternative B: Establishing a national, integrated network of historic sites, museums and interpretative programs. This network would be coordinated with national, regional and local organizations. Alternative E: Creating a national historic park. The park would incorporate nationally significant sites in California and Arizona related to Cesar Chavez and the farm labor movement. Five sites have already been identified as nationally significant. Page 1 The Secretary of the Interior would be authorized to add significant associated sites or districts to the national historic park that would be owned and operated by park partners. NPS identified McDonnell Hall/Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in San José, California as a potential nationally significant site, but determined that further research was needed to assess its integrity and determine whether it meets National Historic Landmark criteria. III. Study Methodology The County Parks Department hired Oral Historians Guerra and McBane, LLC to conduct interviews with members of the community to gather information on the events that took place at the site. Interviewees included Mrs. Rita Chavez Medina (Cesar Chavez’s sister), Mr. Rudolph Medina (Cesar Chavez’s nephew), Reverend Deacon Salvador Alvarez, and Mr. Albert Munoz. Research and literature on the site was limited and the majority of the information obtained came from oral interviews and photo documentation from the interviewees. The oral interviews and photo documentation are provided in Attachment 2. It is important to note that the Oral Historians’ report is in draft form because two additional interviews are being conducted for inclusion in their analysis. This additional information and analysis will be forwarded upon completion. IV. Summary of Information Collected Cesar Chavez worked in the Santa Clara Valley orchards until he joined the Navy during World War II. Father Donald McDonnell was a Catholic priest sent by the San Francisco Archdiocese to work with farm workers. Father McDonnell organized a new parish in Sal Si Puedes, the Mexican barrio on the east side of town and the Chavez families were an integral part of that founding group. Masses were held in a garage in Sal Si Puedes. In the 1950s, Father McDonnell bought a church structure and asked the Chavez and Medina families, along with other parishioners, to move the structure to the site to become Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, which today is known as McDonnell Hall, still located at its original site at 2020 East San Antonio Street, in the City of San José. Cesar Chavez and the other parishioners had to cut the building in half to move it. Cesar Chavez, his wife Helen, his brother Richard and his sister Rita were all part of the first mass that was held at the new church. After witnessing Cesar Chavez’ leadership in establishing the new church, Father McDonnell identified Cesar Chavez as a potential community leader and became a mentor and teacher to him, introducing him to theories of non-violence and the teachings of Gandhi, as well as Catholic theology. Father McDonnell was instrumental in the development of Cesar Chavez as a leader and central to the beginnings of his community organizing efforts. Fred Ross was a community organizer who established a chapter of the Community Service Organization (CSO) in San Jose. He had gone to Father McDonnell to look at Page 2 setting up meetings in the community and for information on Mexican American leaders who might be interested in working with him. Father McDonnell directed Fred Ross to Cesar Chavez. At their first meeting, Cesar Chavez became fascinated with community organizing and joined the CSO, first as a volunteer and later heading up the voter registration drive, which often organized meetings at the former Our Lady of Guadalupe Church (currently McDonnell Hall). After a few months, Fred Ross hired Cesar Chavez as a paid staff person for the CSO. All of this organizing took place among the membership of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. After Cesar Chavez left the CSO and began the United Farm Workers (“UFW”) union, he continued to rely on support from Father McDonnell and from the church parishioners. His religious views were a critical part of his UFW movement, and Our Lady of Guadalupe Church served as a religious touchstone for him throughout his life. McDonnell Hall served as both the location of Cesar Chavez’s initial social justice/labor organizing work, the source of his religious inspiration and commitment, and further embodied the spiritual devotion he had for that work. Even when Cesar Chavez left the area, he would return to Our Lady of Guadalupe Church for spiritual renewal and to support the UFW cause. V. NPS National Historic Landmark Criteria When evaluating the national significance of a proposed site or structure, the National Park Service (NPS) uses the criteria for national historic landmarks in 36 C.F.R Part 65. Sites and structures that “possess exceptional value or quality in illustrating or interpreting the heritage of the United States in history, architecture, archeology, engineering and culture and that possess a high degree of integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling and association” are considered to be nationally significant. (36 C.F.R. § 65.4(a).) In addition, the site or structure must meet one of six specific criteria. McDonnell Hall well exceeds this threshold, as noted below. Four of the six specific criteria relate to McDonnell Hall at 2020 East San Antonio Street in the City of San José. The following is an analysis of these criteria. Applicable National Historic Landmark Criteria • Building or site is “associated with events that have made a significant contribution to, and are identified with, or that outstandingly represent, the broad national patterns of United States history and from which an understanding and appreciation of those patterns may be gained.” (36 C.F.R. § 65.4(a)(1).) The United States has a strong history of labor organizing and worker movements. Previous studies by the NPS have determined that the farm worker movement in the American West is of national significance, and that Cesar Chavez was “the most important Latino leader in the history of the United States during the twentieth century.” (Cesar Chavez Special Resource Study and Page 3 Environmental Assessment (Draft Oct. 2011, Ch. 3, p. 38).) Cesar Chavez’s early social activism began at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church (now McDonnell Hall), where Father McDonnell inspired Cesar Chavez to become involved with the community service organization. Father McDonnell, the parishioners, and their meetings and organizing activities centered within Our Lady of Guadalupe Church (now McDonnell Hall). This community, these activities, and this location were instrumental in the initiation and development of Cesar Chavez into a nationally significant community organizer and leader, and which continued to serve as a touchstone for him.
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